Now, I am aware that there are threads on here that feature various sites and softwares that are useful for learning Japanese, so don't think I haven't seen them~.

My question is whether you (yes, you, the reader) would post your personal favorite site/software. I do not take formal classes for Japanese and I have only learned through free internet resources, but I'm just not learning at a fast enough or engaging pace (I know it's not a fast process anyway, don't get me wrong, but if you knew how little Japanese I knew after studying for several months, you'd agree I'm not learning quickly enough). Really, I would like to invest in a software, but they are either very expensive or so affordable that I have to question whether what I would learn would truly be reliable.

So, basically, what are some sites that you personally like? If there is software that you know to be reliable, what is it? Was it also reasonably priced? What do you think is the very best software for its price?

Studying online is not the best idea. Not only are 95% of the programs inconsistent, but having your study zone on the computer is just a bad idea in general.

Get a textbook. Read it in the bath, on the bus, on a break, in a waiting room, on the couch, during commercials while watching T.V. , etc. etc.

Just saying because I've tried it all. I've even downloaded the MOST expensive software available (10 points if you can guess what it is) for free since that's legal in my Country, and even THAT taught bad habits and very inaccurate information. Buy a textbook that's written by University language scholars, not by some person online who wants a quick buck.

2)Make audio cd\mp3’s for your drive to work etc. One program I did buy was from livinglanguage.com I got it on sale at my local bookstore. The program I didn’t like, but the audio Cd’s did come in handy. Talking to yourself in the car is a little werid at first but you get used to it.

Shiroisan wrote:Studying online is not the best idea. Not only are 95% of the programs inconsistent, but having your study zone on the computer is just a bad idea in general.

Ahh, arigatou gozaimasu, but online studies is literally all I have right now. Trust me, I know it is not the most reliable, but it's better than nothing at all. =/.

Shiroisan wrote:I've even downloaded the MOST expensive software available (10 points if you can guess what it is) for free since that's legal in my Country, and even THAT taught bad habits and very inaccurate information.

Ohh, my. My primary reasons for not purchasing it was because (1) I have to save up for a car -- I'm not going to waste money on a software that I *know* is priced so high because *they can do that* and (2) I've used a pirated version of French Rosetta Stone, and while it did teach some vocabulary, I didn't feel like it taught grammar very well. I know it's supposed to be easy for people, but I am very grammar-literate -- I understand subjects and verbs and objects and all that jazz, so I actually *prefer* for something to tell me exactly how things are supposed to be worded by using the terms "verb", "subject", "topic", etc. because it makes me sense to me that way. Rosetta Stone never did that for me.

What sorts of habits and inaccurate information did it feature?

tgsc wrote:Make audio cd\mp3’s for your drive to work etc. One program I did buy was from livinglanguage.com I got it on sale at my local bookstore. The program I didn’t like, but the audio Cd’s did come in handy. Talking to yourself in the car is a little werid at first but you get used to it.

Yeahhh, I walk to work, and it's only five minutes, hahaha. I'm actually used to talking to myself when practicing a little Japanese -- I did that on the way home from work today, haha (it was dark out, and I always imagine that when I talk to myself in Japanese, I put out the vibe that I'm crazy, and no one wants to rape a crazy, so I'm learning *and* protecting myself)!

Also, HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. Thank you so so so so so so so so sosososososososososo so so so much for sharing that link!

http://ankisrs.net Anki Spaced Repetition System (flashcard) software and its downloadable decks.http://kanji.koohii.com support site for Remembering the Kanji called Reviewing the Kanji, very helpful for getting those thousands of characters down cold.

smart.fm/iknow.fm, is unfortunately no longer a -free- resource. The 'core' decks in Anki are similar (or perhaps identical.)

http://dic.yahoo.co.jp - Japanese dictionaries are freely available online nowadays. I do love having jisho.org and other EDICT/KANJIDIC sites around for having a lot of obscure entries that I may not find anywhere else, but usually I prefer the professionally edited dictionary format, especially when they provide examples.

There are two sites that have huge collections of example sentences, useful for when you really can't figure out the expression from the words that are in it, or you just want a clearer picture of how a word is really used.

Also, of course, I second the recommendation of Tae Kim's guide which tofugu did mention but it might get missed.http://guidetojapanese.org

I think everybody learns differently, and you'll get various answers. I posted a couple of videos on YouTube on what books, apps, I used/am using you can check out. I've also been reading the Bible in Japanese, but may not be of interest to a lot of people. Find what works for you.

I just noticed this. Maybe no one in this forum is using the Assimil program to learn Japanese. I use it myself (but to study French and German) and it is pretty helpful so far.

The program is divided into 2 phases or waves as they call it. The first wave is called the passive wave where you go through the first 50 lessons by listening to the audio in Japanese and read the English translation. You try to understand the track and repeat the lines out loud until you are sure that you completely understand everything. And then you move on to the next selection. The whole process should not be difficult for you. You don't even have to spend a lot of time each day, maybe maximum of 30 mins. I only do at most 20 minutes per day. Also, at the start, the speakers in the audio are talking very slowly, definitely not your normal conversation speed. This is to emphasize pronunciation of the words. Make sure you try to pronounce them like the audio.

- repetitionAfter two or three months, however long it took you to get to lesson 50, you have forgotten many words and phrases of the previous lessons. So you have to refresh them by going through the old lessons again. Very simple, no problem here.

- activationAfter the reading and listening of the first wave you start producing sentences, speaking and probably writing. Again, very simple concept. How to do it? Everything is allowed and possible, it depends entirely on you and your needs.

But to put it briefly, you want repetition/reinforcement of the things you learned previously.